Will a taliban takeover of pakistan rekindle an ancient rivalry--punjabis vs pathans?

the recent activities and terror spewed by taliban in pakistan has brought about the spectre of the imminent takeover of pak by the taliban.

in this it will be opposed by the punjabi dominated pak army.

which means that two ancient foes, two great martial races of the northwest, will be fighting it out again- punjabis and pathans!

of course due to common religion parts of the pak army may join the talibs but the punjabi generals in islamabad are not going to watch idly as the taliban conquer the country.

the pak army has been brought up in the martial races theory of only the two races being martial enough to defend the nation while the mujahirs, the sindhis , the baluchis , the bengalis of east pak being inferior.

the punjabis are of course the 'big brothers' of the pathans according to the pak army.

actually they are bigger only in numbers -as a history of their relation with the pathans (or pashtuns as they call themselves due to their language) shows.

the rivalry started well over a thousand years ago when the hindushahi dynasty of punjab invaded afghanistan and conquered it.the pathans were then nothing more than disorganized pagans with no fixed religion and quckly crumbled before the hindushahi onslaught.

the punjabis managed to convert quite a few pathans to hinduism. today they live in sqalid refugee camps near delhi and still have punjabi surnames like arora malhotra etc inspite of their distinctive pathan appearance.

this round had gone to the punjabis.

but the hindushhis had not heard of the great wind that was blowing on the west-the wind called the might of islam!

under their leader subuktagin the turks conquered the mountains of afghanistan and drove out the punjabis.

according to muslim historian farishta- ''the hindushahi rulers were great kings. they did everything that was right and proper for the good of the people.''he shows rare appreciation of a bitter opponent by his savage conquerers.today nothing remains of the hindushahis except memories.

they were outclassed by the military tactics of the turks, especially the parthian shot-the art of pretending to be fleeing away and suddenly firing arrows accurately by turning backwards to fire them.

more generally they were swept away by the tidal wave of history- islam had arrived to change the face of the earth forever!

the pathans realised that a new religion had arrived -one that would give free reign to their ancient lust for loot rape and plunder and would indeed encourage it by giving it religious sanction.soon the cry of jihad was heard in the afghan hills.

under mahmud of gazni, subuktagins son the pathans would carry out lightning raids into india and conquer the punjab.but they themselves would be ruled along with the punjabis by turks.

soon afghanistan would be witness to the thundering hooves of the armies of chinggis khan -and the pathans would be cut of from india while india was being conquerd by the turks under mohammad ghauri and his general qutubuddin aibak.

under sher shah suri they would rule punjab again- but only for a short time.

soon both punjab and afghanistan would come under the aegis of the mughal empire.

it was with the collapse of the mughals that the two rivals would come face to face again.

the pathans - or the afghans as they called themselves now would carry out some of the most savage raids known to india under their leader ahmad shah abdally.the women of punjab would become prey to the the pathan lust -repeatedly, again and again, especially after the pathans had given a shattering defeat to the marathas in the battle of panipat.

the golden temple would be destroyed and the punjabis mass massacred in a great killing remembered by them as 'wada ghollugra'

but the punjabis had not been sitting idly while india was being trodden and ruled and fooled by foreign conquerers.

in the midst of all the mayhem a new religion had been born - sikhism.
the religion created by guru nanak was given a militant bent by guru gobind singh.

the sikhs were encouraged to keep kirpans for selfdefence. every sikh had to wear a turban and grow a beard and hair so that he would be instantly recognisable anywhere- he could not run for cover and melt among the people. he had to stand and fight.
every sikh was called a sardar ,that is a noble, so that he was not inferior to any body else.
he was encouraged to take the surname singh - lion.
he was encoraged to think that he alone was equal to any army of 125000- sava lakh.

a force of nihangs- blue turbanned fanatics was created to counter the fervour and fanaticism of the ghazis.

emboldened by such principles the sikhs drove out ahmad shahs hitherto invinvible pathans out of punjab.
under maharajah ranjit singh they conquered peshawar and the northwest frontier from the pathans-places they have not got back to this day.

today if the pakistan army crumbles before the taliban onslaught the punjabis wont be finished.

as the taliban approach the indian frontier they will be faced with a old and familiar foe- the gallant sikhs of punjab.

of course both sides will be backed by the militaries and paramilitaries of both nations.

the aftermath of third battle ofpanipat----- how the sikhs drove out the pathans out of punjab

after the battle of panipat the whole of india lay prostrate before the abdally and his hordes.

but as the afghan army began to return home from the battle they were in for a shocker- the sikhs whom they had earlier dismissed as mere brigands began to attack the afghan army which was overloaded with riches and of course beautiful women- the less goodlooking of them having been raped and slaughtered.

the sikhs snatched all the women from the hands of the afghans whose army was overloaded and cumbersome with the loot of hindustan and could not fight back. these women were sent back to maharashtra with due escort.

here the sikhs honored themselves by not taking any loot but instead concentrating on liberating the women.

as abdallys troops left punjab the sikhs began to establish their authority in punjab.

abdally had to carry out an expidition to reestablish his rule.

soon a pattern was established-as soon as the pathans went back home the sikhs would reestablish their rule over punjab.the afghans had to carry out another expedition to bring control.the sikhs would melt away in the countryside. as the afghans started retreating home laden with loot and plunder the sikhs would gather around the now- tired -from -campaigning pathan army and harrass it attacking it from all sides and not allowing it any rest.

the pathan army was especially vulnerable at the crossing points of the five flooded rivers that have given punjab its name(punjab means land of the five rivers), the ravi ,chenab,sutlej , jhelum,beas and also at the crossing of the indus.

as soon as the pathan army had crossed a river partially the sikhs would converge on those left on the other bank and now outnumbered-they would be cut to pieces.this was not as easy as it seems -the pathans were among the great warriors that asia has produced and the sikhs had to have true commitment to the khalsa brotherhood to fight them,the risk of losing ones life was great in any such encounter.

soon the pathans learned to have a healthy respect for the sikhs.

abdally could leave a force of 20000 men at most to patrol punjab after his expedition was over for he needed his other troops to control his own men in his homeland- there was never any peace among the everturbulent pathans.

these 20000 men would be outnumbered by the sikhs- who could raise 50000 men when united.this was recipe for afghan annihilation! the pathans began to dread a posting in punjab after their main army was gone as death was ever near......

soon abdally tired out and stopped leading his men. this disheartened their leaders who began to lead only halfhearted expeditions.

after his death ( by cancer of the nose )his son taimur gave up punjab to the sikhs in return for nominal suzernaity over punjab and a small tribute.his son shah zaman tried to regain supremacy but was unsuccessful.

soon the sikhs got a leader of genius in maharajah ranjit singh who was alble to unite them.under him the sikhs conquered peshawar and the khyber pass- the first time in over 800 years that an indian army was able to send the turko-afghans packing back from where they came from-across the khyber khind- the true gateway of india!

the pak army has been brought up in the martial races theory of only the two races being martial enough to defend the nation while the mujahirs, the sindhis , the baluchis , the bengalis of east pak being inferior.

Click to expand...

The Balochs were also considered one among the "martial" races. Infact the first Indian to win a Victoria cross was a Baloch - Khudadad Khan. The reason why they don't figure much in teh popular imagination is their historical reluctance to associate themselves in the affairs of the Indus Valley people while the Pathans and Punjabis were at it.

the rivalry started well over a thousand years ago when the hindushahi dynasty of punjab invaded afghanistan and conquered it.the pathans were then nothing more than disorganized pagans with no fixed religion and quckly crumbled before the hindushahi onslaught.

the punjabis managed to convert quite a few pathans to hinduism. today they live in sqalid refugee camps near delhi and still have punjabi surnames like arora malhotra etc inspite of their distinctive pathan appearance.

this round had gone to the punjabis.

but the hindushhis had not heard of the great wind that was blowing on the west-the wind called the might of islam!

under their leader subuktagin the turks conquered the mountains of afghanistan and drove out the punjabis.

according to muslim historian farishta- ''the hindushahi rulers were great kings. they did everything that was right and proper for the good of the people.''he shows rare appreciation of a bitter opponent by his savage conquerers.today nothing remains of the hindushahis except memories.

they were outclassed by the military tactics of the turks, especially the parthian shot-the art of pretending to be fleeing away and suddenly firing arrows accurately by turning backwards to fire them.

more generally they were swept away by the tidal wave of history- islam had arrived to change the face of the earth forever!

the pathans realised that a new religion had arrived -one that would give free reign to their ancient lust for loot rape and plunder and would indeed encourage it by giving it religious sanction.soon the cry of jihad was heard in the afghan hills.

under mahmud of gazni, subuktagins son the pathans would carry out lightning raids into india and conquer the punjab.but they themselves would be ruled along with the punjabis by turks.

soon afghanistan would be witness to the thundering hooves of the armies of chinggis khan -and the pathans would be cut of from india while india was being conquerd by the turks under mohammad ghauri and his general qutubuddin aibak.

under sher shah suri they would rule punjab again- but only for a short time.

soon both punjab and afghanistan would come under the aegis of the mughal empire.

it was with the collapse of the mughals that the two rivals would come face to face again.

the pathans - or the afghans as they called themselves now would carry out some of the most savage raids known to india under their leader ahmad shah abdally.the women of punjab would become prey to the the pathan lust -repeatedly, again and again, especially after the pathans had given a shattering defeat to the marathas in the battle of panipat.

the golden temple would be destroyed and the punjabis mass massacred in a great killing remembered by them as 'wada ghollugra'

but the punjabis had not been sitting idly while india was being trodden and ruled and fooled by foreign conquerers.

in the midst of all the mayhem a new religion had been born - sikhism.
the religion created by guru nanak was given a militant bent by guru gobind singh.

the sikhs were encouraged to keep kirpans for selfdefence. every sikh had to wear a turban and grow a beard and hair so that he would be instantly recognisable anywhere- he could not run for cover and melt among the people. he had to stand and fight.
every sikh was called a sardar ,that is a noble, so that he was not inferior to any body else.
he was encouraged to take the surname singh - lion.
he was encoraged to think that he alone was equal to any army of 125000- sava lakh.

a force of nihangs- blue turbanned fanatics was created to counter the fervour and fanaticism of the ghazis.

emboldened by such principles the sikhs drove out ahmad shahs hitherto invinvible pathans out of punjab.
under maharajah ranjit singh they conquered peshawar and the northwest frontier from the pathans-places they have not got back to this day.

today if the pakistan army crumbles before the taliban onslaught the punjabis wont be finished.

as the taliban approach the indian frontier they will be faced with a old and familiar foe- the gallant sikhs of punjab.

of course both sides will be backed by the militaries and paramilitaries of both nations.

it will be interesting to see what turn this rivalry will take then.

we just have to wait and watch....

Click to expand...

Actually truth be told the Pathans in Pakistan (i.e, the ones from the settled areas of KP like Peshawar) have been integrated into the mainstream Pak society long ago as they were not discriminated much, got their fair share in the civil services, got a superb share of the pie in the ever-so-prospering armed forces due to their historical reputation etc. So expecting them to go against the Punjabis is not possible.

But what you said is possible in the case of the "mountain" Pathans - those from FATA - who are still exclusivist, not integrated into the Pak mainstream and who still maintain a superiority complex over the Punjabis in particular and South Asians in general and the Pathans from Afghanistan who hate the Punjabis with a vengeance for the destruction they have caused to their country (ISI is seen as a Punjabi institution) and also for conspiring and splitting a part of their home land (KP) from Afghanistan.